Fruit and flower cutter.



C. F. BILLAU. P RUIT AND FLOWER GUTTER. APPLIGATIOH FILED AUG. e, 1912.

1,068,848. I Patented Ju1j29, 1913.

moeurs COLUMNA PLANDGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

CHARLES F. BILLAU, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

FRUIT AND FLOWER CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 29, 1913.

Application filed August 6, 1912. `Serial No. 713,573,

To all wh-0m t may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. BILLAU, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa,have invented a new and Improved Fruit and Flower Cutter, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and eX- act description.

This invention relates generally to a cutting device adapted to be heldo-n the finger, and, more particularly, to one especially adapted foruse in cutting fruit and flowers.

The principal object of my invention is the provision of a cuttingdevice adapted to be placed on the linger, the body member of which ismade of resilient material and of spiral conformation, the said bodymember having a longitudinally extending bearing portion against whichthe finger may engage when the device is in use, thereby providing formore secure holding o-f the device on the finger at such time. It isalso of some importance in the production of devices in this class thata simple structure be devised, thereby providing for low cost ofmanufacture and consequent low selling price.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference denotecorresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 is aperspective view of the device in position on the index linger; Fig. 2is a vertical sectional view of the device; Fig. 3 is a plan view of theblank from which the device is made; Fig. l is a plan view of a modifiedform of blank.

rIhe-cutter comprises the body member 10 and the blade 11 with holdingmeans for the blade, such holding means 12 being preferably integralwith the body member 10. The body member 10 is preferably in the form ofa single sheet of resilient material and adjacent one end is providedwith a bearing portion which takes the form of a corrugation 13. Thebody portion is bent into a form which is substantially cylindrical butwhich at the same time is substantially spiral, due to the fact that theinterior diameter is constantly decreasing, as shown particularly inFig. 2. The end of the body member remote from the said bearing portion13 is overturned or bent, thereby providing a pocket which serves as ablade holding means 12, the material of the said body member 10 formingthc side walls of the pocket. In order to retain these side wallsclosely and yet resiliently adjacent each other, lugs 14, preferablyintegral with the body member 10, are bent upwardly and over the outerwall of the said pocket, whereby the blade 11, which may be of thicknesssubstantially equal to or greater than the width of the said pocket,will be firmly held in position between the side walls thereof.

The device is intended for use as shown particularly in Fig. 1. -It willbe noted that the said bearing portion or corrugation 13 will extendlongitudinally of and in engagement with the finger' so that whenpressure is brought to bear on the cutting edge of the blade 11, thesaid blade will tend to move upwardly, thereby bringing the body member10 into a more firm engagementwit-h the finger, the said bearing portion13 preventing turning of the device relatively to the finger.

The particular form of the blank shown in Fig. t contemplates thecontinued use of the same blade used with the device even after it hasbeen sharpened a number of times, whereby its width has been materiallylessened. The blank shown in this figure is provided with 'a number ofopenings 15, those at each side of the blank registering when the partsare folded as shown in Fig. 1; it will be obvious that after the bladehas been lessened in width, due to the sharpening and grinding, that thewidth of the pocket into which the blade fits is too great to permit thecutting edge to project sufficiently. Suitable stops, such as screws orpins, may be inserted in each set of registering openings, therebyproviding for engagement with the rear edge portion of the blade,thereby insuring the proper projection of the cutting edge into positionfor convenient use.

While the cutter has been gotten up especially for the use of fruit andflower pickers, it is, of course, clear that it may be put to a varietyof uses, such as cutting twine, thread, etc.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent:-

A fruit and iower cutter made of a single piece of resilient material,lugs on opposite sides of the said piece of material and spaced from oneend thereof, the said end being adapted to be bent adjacent the lugs,

and the lugs being also adapted to be bent toward each other intoengagement with the said bent end, whereby a pocket is formed adaptedtoreceive a blade, the said lugs and the said end portion of the saidpiece of material being provided with a number of openings adapted forregistration, the said openings being adapted to receive elementsagainst which the rear portion of the blade 10 may engage, whereby thecutting edge por- CHARLES F. BILLAU. y

Vitnesses:

VALTER ALLISON, JOHN B. EMER'Y.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

